The Garden Party
by TheAmazons
Summary: Oneshot. Laurentia feels unwell whilst attending the Hanbury Court garden party, luckily Mr Carter understands how she is feeling.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Cranford, neither the two recent TV adaptions nor any of the three books from which it is adapted.**

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The Hanbury Court garden party was always a big event in the village of Cranford. All of the ladies of the town attended and it was always talked of months afterwards. It meant many different things to many different people. For Lady Ludlow it was a chance to show off Hanbury Court; for Miss Matty Jenkins it was a chance to socialise with her friends and for Mr Carter, Lady Ludlow's estate manager, it was a chance to prove himself a hard worker.

Yes, for many it was a great source of pleasure. And yet Miss Laurentia Galindo had always regarded the annual garden party as a bit if a chore. Oh she attended every year of course, if only for the sake of pleasing her-ladyship and keeping up appearances. But she never enjoyed attending and would gladly have avoided the whole event.

This year she found her discomfort particularly heightened by the intense heat which radiated from the sun which now sat in a perfect cloudless sky. The summer had been particularly hot this year and the day of the garden party was no exception. The ground was baking with the heat and many a guest had taken refuge from the sun's rays in the shade of a tree or one of the large umbrellas which were conveniently dotted around the lawn.

Laurentia herself had found some shade in a secluded spot against the wall of the house where she now stood looking out over the main lawn and watching the comings and goings of the other guests. Even in the shade of the great house she found the heat overwhelming and her head was pounding. She reached up and untied the ribbons that secured her bonnet before removing it and undoing the first few buttons of her high-necked. She was grateful, then, for the secludedness of the spot for she should hate for anyone to see her in such a state of undress. True, she was hardly exposed, but she did prefer to preserve her modesty.

Her head, however, continued to throb and beads of sweat began to form on her brow. The world began to spin about her and she was sure that she was going to faint. She searched frantically through her pockets for her smelling salts but found that they were not there. She leaned against the cold stone wall and tried to regulate her breathing. She was trying not to work herself up into a state of panic but was failing miserably as she felt her consciousness slip away.

It was like this that Mr Carter found her, breathing heavily and visibly pale, leaning against the wall of Hanbury Court in the summer sunshine.

He had been taking a shortcut through the shrubbery which lead from the front lawn, around the side of the house and out on to the main lawn of the house. This was a route he often took when there were tasks that needed attending to on both sides of the estate.

He had been setting up a series of activities for the children attending and was now hurrying back to attend to the buffet which was being prepared on the front lawn. He knew that such things could be entrusted to a less senior member of staff but he did prefer to see to these matters himself.

As he approached the house he could make out a figure leaning against the wall. As he drew closer he began to recognise the figure as Miss Galindo, he could tell that she was ill. He could hear her breathing was laboured and she was bent over, relying on the wall for support.

He sped up then, almost running towards her.

"Miss Galindo!" he called. "Are you quite well?"

"Quite well Mr Carter, I assure you," she managed to say, although she knew that it was clearly not the case. "I shall be quite alright in a moment, if I could just sit down."

Even as she was saying this she felt her strength give way and she fell into Mr Carter's arms.

"You are clearly _not_ well Miss Galindo," he said as he lowered her to the ground so that she was sat in the long grass with her skirts pooled around her, leaning against his chest.

"I am simply over tired Mr Carter," she mumbled. "And perhaps a little warm."

Her head fell limply against his chest and be could not help but relish the feeling of it resting there. He gently rested the back of his hand against her brow to test her temperature and found that she was burning up.

He looked about and saw her discarded bonnet lying about a foot away on the grass. He also observed that she had undone the buttons at the top of her dress, probably in an effort to cool herself down.

"Miss Galindo," he said awkwardly. "You are too hot; we must try and get you back to a normal temperature." He paused taking in her limp body and the usually hidden flesh of her neck. He looked away quickly, aware of her sense of modesty.

"I think Lady Ludlow should be informed of your condition. She could probably find a place for you to rest inside; maybe even offer you some refreshment to cool you down."

"No," Laurentia mumbled. "I should hate for her to be disturbed, not today of all days! The last thing she'd want to hear is that I was causing extra work for her servants when they should be attending to their duties."

"Very well," sighed Mr Carter. "If it is your wish I suppose I must obey."

"Thank you," she said with a slight smile as she briefly met his gaze. "I would hate to cause a scene."

"You wouldn't be causing a scene," he said frowning. "I'm sure that everybody would have the utmost concern for your welfare."

"Everyone would be suitably sympathetic yes," she sighed. "But I don't believe that anyone would really care. I haven't a friend in this town, apart from her lady-ship of course, I have many acquaintances true, but no one whom I believe really knows me."

She smiled slightly and Mr Carter recognised the truth in her words. Behind her eyes he could make out the loneliness which she was attempting to conceal as she looked away quickly.

"Anyway it will do me no good to be sitting around moping," she conceded attempting to stand back up. "I will be better in a few moments if only I could cool down slightly."

"Stay as you are Miss Galindo," he replied. "I will bring you a glass of water. You can rest here in the shade until you have recovered you strength."

"Thank you Mr Carter," she replied as he rose to head towards the buffet. "You are too kind."

He smiled at her before he turned and walked away. Laurentia found herself watching his retreating figure and sighed to herself.

She always seemed to end up in the most embarrassing situations when he was around. Not that she was ungrateful for his help; on the contrary she found that she was strangely glad that it was Mr Carter who had found her there, although she could not for the life of her think why.

As Mr Carter set off on his mission to provide refreshment for a woman very much in need of it, he found himself replaying certain portions of their conversation in his head.  
The words she had spoken about her status within the town were troubling him the most, how could such a woman feel alone and friendless? And yet he recognised the truth in her words and it pained him to acknowledge her true feelings.

Her situation, in many ways, mirrored his. They both lived alone, worked for their living and both had unusual statuses with the community. Miss Galindo because of her family had been titled but she now worked in trade and he because although he was in the employ of another his income was considerable and most of the town looked up to him. In many ways they were perfectly suited, both a strange mixture of classes and personalities. This comparison intrigued Mr Carter almost as much as the woman herself.

He decided there and then that he would try to become better acquainted with Miss Laurentia Galindo, and hopefully they would become close enough for him to begin to provide the cure at least some of her loneliness.

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**Not sure if I like this or not so I apologise if it's not that good! **

**Please review if you have the time! :) **


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